The Path I'll Follow
by NeverMineToHold
Summary: This path shouldn't have been his to follow, but it led Clint beyond the point of no return and had its own reward... Loki/Clint; Rated M to play it safe; Note: Sequel to "Keep To The Left"


Title: "The Path I'll Follow (to the very end)"

Status: OneShot; complete

Fandom: The Avengers (Movie)

Characters: Loki, Clint, the Avengers

Disclaimer: The Avengers belong to Marvel.

Rating: T

Genre: AU, dark!Clint, mild Slash

Warnings: unbeta'ed

Summary: This path shouldn't have been his to follow, but it led Clint beyond the point of no return and had its own reward...

Note: This is a continuation of "Keep To The Left", but should make sense as a stand-alone, too. Thank you to every one who left a review – this is for you! :)

The Path I'll Follow (to the very end)

A small lake in a forest clearing, where the water sprites danced in the sunlight and the scent of flowers in full bloom hung heavily in the air, was not Clint's idea of a safe place while being followed by a horde of Asgardians lead by Odin himself.

Naturally, Loki begged to differ.

He was perched on a dead tree-trunk overgrown with red moss, while Clint sat in the grass at his feet; his new bow within reach. The lie smith looked pensive, turning an apple round and round in his hands.

"You will cease to be human, Clint. Do you truly want to make such a sacrifice?"

That Loki left the choice to him, despite all he had risked stealing the apple out of the heart of Asgard's gardens, was no longer a surprise to Clint; warmth spread in his chest.

"What 'sacrifice'? I'll be with you forever, that's what we both want, isn't it? Don't bail out on me now," Clint chided, keeping his voice light.

Loki smiled, a slow stretch of lips, open and gentle, soft enough to scatter with a wrong word, like all true things.

Clint returned the smile as best he could, knowing his own was full of rough edges. Seeing Loki drop all masks around him only ever invoked one emotion, something dark and fiercely protective.

Loki leaned down to offer him the golden apple and their fingers brushed as Clint took it. The fruit was smooth and perfectly formed, its fragrance sweet and rich. He could feel the burn of green eyes on him as Clint bit through the skin into flesh and juice escaped down his chin. The mouthful of apple seemed to melt on his tongue, its taste beyond his ability to describe, and before Clint knew it only the stem was left.

It crumbled to dust before its fall could end between blades of grass. He waited for a moment, but nothing happened.

"I don't feel different."

Loki laughed, the sound sending the dancing sprites under water with a startled splash, as he let himself topple over from his perch. Clint's reflexes brought his hands up to catch the madly giggling god and eased him down until Loki sat straddling his hips.

Clint waited patiently, knowing no answer would be forthcoming until Loki ran out of breath. He entertained himself by letting his fingers wander up and down lazily, re-discovering the cool body leaning over him. He ignored the possibility of hysterical tears lurking in the hitching movement of Loki's chest.

First impressions were deceptive: Nothing about the God of Lies was as fragile as it seemed – make that mistake and Loki will scatter your atoms into the wind. But still, he could crack and unleash all that pain and hatred bottled up inside him. Clint had misstepped only once and to this day, he couldn't say how he would have survived Loki's wrath had the god not come back to his senses just in time.

Loki went silent, cool air prickling over Clint's skin as he struggled to regain his breath. Their eyes locked as the Asgardian leaned close enough that his dark hair tickled Clint's face.

"But you _are_ different, Clint. You are glowing."

Before Clint could point out that the chase to capture them was not yet over, making this a bad idea with worse timing, Loki began to lick and nip at his lips. Opening them in response was as much second nature as using his bow, and Clint allowed that clever tongue to chase after the taste of Idun's apple.

Sex with Loki was always a balancing act: his soft lips hid sharp teeth, gentle fingertips sharp nails and the glance of green eyes could mean the acidic pain of magic just as well as the expected pleasure. Clint had no problem with being handled rough and the thrill of true danger only added to the heady experience.

But the kiss gentled and Clint seized the opportunity to topple Loki until that slim body was trapped under his greater bulk. Loki grinned, clearly amused by the notion that Clint might have gained the upper hand. He twisted, allowing his 'captor' to feel the ripple of his muscles, and then his teeth scraped over Clint's chin before his tongue licked at the dried apple juice to be found there.

It wasn't an easy task, to work up the will and lean out of reach, but Clint managed. His calloused fingertips traced the fresh scar at Loki's temple, where Idun's guard had grazed him.

"I'm ready," Clint said with a hint of steel in his voice. He had wondered for a long time why Loki was stalling and had reeled with the realization that it was fear for him that held the god back. "You don't have to wait any longer."

Somewhere in the forest a horse whinnied, loud and clear as if in warning, and Clint could hear Odin utter a curse. He grabbed his bow, recognizing the glint in Loki's electric eyes and thus was not surprised when a surge of magic whisked them both away to safety.

XXX

"That's as far as you get!"

"Perfect timing, Iron Man!" Steve said, his tone more grim acknowledgement than praise, as he watched Tony sweep down, his repulsors humming at full power and ready to be fired.

Thor circled around, his face pale but determined, as he blocked Loki's last ditch effort to escape. Not that his battered sibling had had any true chance in the first place with the Hulk and Natasha breathing down his neck and a S.H.I.E.L.D. helicopter hovering over the junction where their chase had ended.

Thor lowered Mjölnir, less a placating gesture than necessary to contain the lightning crackling around the hammer, and took a careful step forward. "Brother -"

"Don't you dare!" Loki's green eyes stopped darting from one Avenger to the next and settled on him, his words an enraged hiss. "You have lost all right to call me brother and whatever bound us despite strangers blood is long gone."

The Hulk growled, as unimpressed as always when facing the puny god. "Hulk smash now?"

"Not a bad idea, big guy," Tony said, shifting his aim from Loki's unprotected head to his chest. He knew from past experience that a direct hit in that area would stun the god long enough for the team to sweep down from the chopper and truss him up securely – or what passed as that under the circumstances. "Let's get this over with, the family reunion can wait till Asgard."

"Thank you, but I think I'll pass."

The moment the words left Loki's mouth an arrow whistled down and hit the concrete where they stood. For a long second nothing happened as every Avenger stared at the vibrating titanium shaft with varying degrees of dawning horror - then the arrowhead exploded.

The shock wave was great enough to force them a collective step back; parked cars rattled and alarms started blaring. A cloud of black smoke rose to obscure both eyes and sensors, and though Natasha rushed over immediately, Loki was gone.

"Damn it!" She turned around, her aim not wavering even as she coughed and her eyes started to sting and water. "Clint! Where are you?"

XXX

As planned, the moment of distraction was enough for Loki to hightail it with his neat little teleportation spell. He reappeared at Clint's side and leaned heavily against him.

"Clint! Where are you?"

Clint whistled to draw the Avengers attention; they whirled around to spot him where he stood on the skyscraper's roof. Their expressions were interesting to say the least.

He shifted his stance to keep his arrow steadily aimed at Iron Man, who was currently the greatest danger aside from the chopper, and to compensate for Loki's weight. Clint knew that Loki was only acting despite his dented armor and bruised face – he could feel the barely contained raw magic crackling where they touched.

Everything about Loki leaning casually on him spoke of possessiveness, of showing off a favorite toy, but Clint took it in stride and with a smirk; he could hardly claim he hadn't expected it – Thor was present, after all.

"I'm off – have fun," Loki whispered in his ear and leaned around to steal a kiss from Clint that turned sloppy due its skewed angle. He vanished into his customary cloud of green-black smoke.

"Drama queen," Clint muttered fondly, licking his wet lips.

His attention shifted back to Natasha's outraged screaming and he caught the end of her tirade: "... damn you, snap out of it! Come down here so that I can whack you again, bastard! I won't let you end up as one of the puppets of that god of lies wannabe!"

Clint's aim shifted to her, though it didn't matter: he could have picked them off one by one right now. They made it easy for him, standing there frozen in shock as if Commander Fury wasn't screaming bloody murder over the comm's for them to snap out of it.

"This is the truth, Tasha."

Clint turned and his arrow hit its mark: the chopper went down in a chaotic spiral of oily smoke and screams. Shrapnel rained down on the Avengers, who finally jumped into action, trying to save the crew.

He didn't wait to watch the crash or ascertain what happened after that; having been one of them Clint knew this wasn't nearly enough to finish the Avengers off. Besides, today was only Loki's way of saying 'Hello'. Clint's grin hid a wild edge as he jumped down to the closest roof, adrenaline rushing through his veins as he thought about what was yet to come.

Maybe Loki was rubbing off on him, but that was hardly a surprise. For S.H.I.E.L.D he had vanished six months ago without leaving a trace... But the truth was for Clint it had been a lifetime, decades he had spent traveling with Loki, from one realm to the other, seeing things no mortal before him had ever laid eyes upon.

He had made his decision long ago; he had found his place.

"This will be fun."

End

AN: Feedback makes my days brighter ;)


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